East Village Office Space for Rent

The East Village represents the center of NYC’s counterculture. Previously, it was part of the Lower East Side but earned its own distinction in the 1960s when an assortment of artists, musicians and hippies moved there. The neighborhood is known for its diverse community and unique sub-neighborhoods such as Alphabet City, the Bowery and Little Ukraine.

Know Your Villages

If you aren’t certain about the difference between Greenwich Village, West Village, and East Village, here’s a brief explanation:

“Greenwich Village and West Village usually refer to the same area, bordered by 14th Street to the North, Houston St. to the South, Broadway to the East, and the Hudson River to the West. The East Village shares the same North-South borders, with the East River and around Third Avenue serving as the East-West borders. NoHo rests in the space between Broadway and Bowery.”

East Village Office Space | Lease and Data Trends

East Village office space is limited and in high demand. With a 3.5% vacancy rate (compared to the NYC office space average of 10%), only around 5 million square feet of commercial real estate inventory, and less than 100,000 square feet of additional space under construction, options are limited and come at premium prices.

The average East Village-Greenwich Village office space rent is $83 per square foot. Class A spaces cost approximately $110 per square foot, among the highest in the city. If you do find an office for rent in the area, you and your employees will be within short distance of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, green space, and public transit hubs. These are a few of the reasons Facebook, IBM Watson, and Robin Hood have offices in the neighborhood.

What Our Brokers Say About East Village Office Space

East Village is located in Midtown Manhattan with Gramercy to the North; Greenwich Village to the West; the East River to the East; and Little Italy and Lower East Side to the South. Commuters and tourists enjoy the numerous transportation options to travel among East Village’s sub-neighborhoods or surrounding districts. The closest subway stations are Second Avenue (M and F trains), Astor Place (6), Eighth Street-New York University, (N, R and W) and First Avenue (L.) The nearest buses are M1, M2, M3, M8, M9, M14A, M14D, M15, M15 SBS, M21, M101 and M103.

Small, action-packed East Village’s culture is so eclectic that it’s difficult to describe in generalities. One simply has to see the neighborhood for himself. The East Village is known for its one-of-a-kind vintage clothing stores, record stores and restaurants. Looking for a business meeting or lunch destination with a little character? Check out Momofuku Ssam Bar, Narcissa, The Smith or the Cafe Standard. For even more options of what to see, do, eat, and drink in the neighborhood, check out our Best of East Village guide.

Get to Know the East Village

Each NYC neighborhood is known for something different, whether it’s a certain type of inhabitant, a famous landmark or its internationally known businesses. East Village contains three separate sub-neighborhoods. Alphabet City takes up almost two-thirds of East Village; it’s thus named for four of its avenues–A, B, C and D–the only ones in Manhattan named with a single letter. Bowery is home to numerous luxury condominiums and the Bowery Poetry Club. The Bowery Poetry Club, founded in 2002, provides a creative space for poets and artists to gather and share their work. Little Ukraine used to have a population of more than 60,000 Ukrainians.

Some people argue that gentrification is changing the character of the neighborhood. Supporters of this idea say that artists and hippies discovered the neighborhood and gave it a unique flavor, but richer residents moved in, which increased housing prices and gradually uprooted the original residents. This has allegedly happened in SoHo and Tribeca as well. Regardless of how much truth is behind gentrification, East Village still bursts with variety, and it will be interesting to see how it changes in the future.

Though East Village thrives on diversity and is known for being unique, it still maintains a strong sense of community. East Village contains more than 600 community gardens run by locals; the New York City Marble Cemetery, NYC’s second-oldest non-sectarian cemetery; and Tompkins Square Park and East River Park.